Chaotic scenes as Governor Ngilu’s lawyers forcibly kicked out of Kitui County Assembly offices

Drama erupted on Monday morning at the Kitui County Assembly after lawyers representing Governor Ngilu were forcibly kicked of the assembly’s premises.

Earlier in the day, the lawyers had been locked out of the promises in a move they termed illegal and barbaric.

“You cannot lock us out of a public office, huku si kwa mamayako ama babayako, tell the speaker to give us as letter of cancellation, you invited us, no one is getting into this office if you do not allow us in,” Kitui County lawyer Morris Kimuli said.

The lawyers, had according to reports, gone to the assembly to represent Governor Ngilu who had been summoned.

The MCAs had summoned the embattled governor to appear before the assembly just days after the High Court suspended her impeachment temporarily.

The battery of lawyers were led by the Kitui County Laywer Morris Kimuli and Martin Oloo with reports indicating that Kimuli sustained injuries during the confrontation.

The lawyer sought treatment at the Kitui County Referral Hospital while his colleague recorded a statement at the Kitui police station.

A video circulating on social media showed several uniformed Serjeant-At-Arms whisking the lawyers from the premises and throwing him out of the assembly’s gates.

Drama as lawyers representing Governor Ngilu are forcibly kicked out of the Kitui County Assembly. pic.twitter.com/4Qm3e5yRV4

— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) June 29, 2020

The lawyer was accused of disrupting the assembly’s proceedings.

Calm was however restored at the premises after police officers drawn from Kitui police station were deployed to man the assembly’s gates.

The latest comes just days after the lawyers made an application on June 24, 2020, challenging the tabling and debating of the impeachment motion.

The motion to remove Ngilu from office was moved last week by Athi Ward Representative and the Assembly’s leader of majority Peter Kilonzo.

Some of the grounds advanced for the Governor’s ouster include gross violation of the Constitution and the County Governments Act by failing to honour summons of the Senate.

Last week, however, the  impeachment motion was halted by way of conservatory order obtained by Ngilu at the Milimani High Court.

The order bars the assembly from tabling and debating the motion until an inter-parte hearing on July 6.

In her petition, the governor listed the county assembly as the first respondent while the Assembly Speaker George Ndoto was the second respondent. Assembly Clerk Elijah Mutambuki is listed as the third respondent.